By: Steph Dlugon
We’ve already touched upon how difficult it can be to weed through the iTunes app store in order to find a specific app. Even though there’s search functionality, some estimates suggest there are close to 300,000 apps now available. The iTunes Genius feature http://www.mobilepresence.com/pure-genius/ helps users discover apps based on their previous downloads. Back in September when Genius was unveiled, the app store boasted just 75,000 titles. A recent article in PC World showcased 5 apps that help users find apps. Most simply monitor prices and alert the user when an app of interest goes on sale. Another serves as a random generator of app suggestions in case you’re feeling indecisive.
Let’s say you’re a retailer with an app available on iTunes. Unless they know the exact name of your store, how do you know if your potential customers are finding it? The mobile retail apps are tucked within the “lifestyle” category. So, it takes a few mouse clicks and a little patience before users even find the right area to navigate. The trick may be to lead customers to your new technology via traditional methods.
A growing number of retailers are advertising their mobile apps within the pages of their print catalogs and on their websites. It’s easy to place an icon that links directly to the app on a website or on a Facebook or MySpace page. And using Twitter to announce the release of an app or an updated version of an existing app is a quick, easy and free way to keep customers informed.
When I started writing this blog today, I had this notion I wanted to try to prove. I assumed that consumers were finding apps in other ways besides conducting direct searches within the app store. I turned to Google AdWords to get a feel for how many people were searching to see if their favorite retailer had an available mobile app. I did a few random searches on retailers who do have apps available. My search terms were simple. I entered the name of the retailer and the word app (ex. BestBuy app). It turns out my assumption was wrong. The AdWords results were extremely low. So for now, direct searching within the app store appears the best way for customers to locate an app.
